In observance of National Preparedness Month, the Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response, the Office of Family Assistance, and the Office of Community Services held a webinar on September 20, 2023. This webinar featured a panel discussion on an Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Dear Colleague Letter and a factsheet on post-disaster housing assistance for disaster survivors that may be available through four ACF programs. These programs include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG).

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, in partnership with the Children’s Bureau, announces a new TANF-Child Welfare Learning Community. The “Families Are Stronger Together: TANF & Child Welfare Partnering for Prevention Learning Community (FAST-LC)” will center on innovative prevention strategies to strengthen families and mitigate and reduce their involvement with the child welfare system through partnerships between TANF and Child Welfare programs. The FAST-LC is a one-year initiative slated to launch in September 2023 and conclude in September 2024. An August 10, 2023 webinar discussed the self-nomination process and benefits of the FAST-LC.

Self-nomination packages are due by Thursday, September 7, 2023, at 6:00 pm ET and can be obtained by emailing TANF-CWLearningCommunity@blhtech.com.

In May and June of 2022, the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network (a national technical assistance center funded by the Administration for Community Living) hosted five virtual half-day regional convenings. Additionally, one of the Network’s key national partners, the National Indian Child Welfare Association, hosted a virtual half-day tribal convening. These six convenings brought together leaders from various systems within states, tribes, and territories to address challenges and explore promising practices in serving kinship/grandfamilies. They engaged individuals with lived experience, leaders and professionals in kinship navigator programs as well as community- and faith-based organizations. Additionally, the convenings included representatives of the following government systems: Aging, Child Welfare, Disability, Education, Housing, Medicaid/Medicare, Nutrition, and TANF.

Generations United produced a set of three tip sheets as quick reference tools for practitioners and advocates who are working with grandfamilies and kinship families from traditionally underserved groups. Based on toolkits, these tip sheets are tailored for addressing the needs of children from American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN), Latino, and African American populations. They help practitioners provide services in a way that is culturally sensitive and effective and also serve as guides for staff orientation/training to work in these communities.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway created a five-part podcast series that illustrated ways that states and tribal jurisdictions have supported kinship caregivers. Part 3 of this series focuses on the unique successes experienced within the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. The Tribe’s flexible use of funding and their prevention-focused approach have resulted in a near 70 percent reduction in the number of children in care. Their success is built upon strong, trusting relationships forged between tribal members. Topics discussed included:

• How Port Gamble S’Klallam’s Children and Family Services differs from other State and Tribal child welfare agencies,
• How the trusting relationships Children and Family Services shares with the community enable proactive engagement with families before they encounter the child welfare system,
• Tailoring services and assessments to address a community’s specific needs, and
• Guidance for child welfare professionals who may work with Tribal families and communities.

Both inside and outside the foster care system, American Indian and Alaska Native children are more likely to live in grandfamilies—families in which grandparents, other adult family members, or close family friends are raising children with no parents in the home—than any other racial or ethnic group. This toolkit is designed to give resources and tips to child welfare agencies, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, so they can better serve all American Indian and Alaska Native grandfamilies regardless of child welfare involvement. It also explores some unique strengths and challenges of these grandfamilies, which agencies and organizations need to recognize to provide culturally appropriate supportive services.

American Indian and Alaska Native children are more likely to live in grandfamilies than children in any other racial or ethnic group. While American Indian and Alaska Native children make up one percent of all children in the United States, they comprise over eight percent of all children in grandfamilies and two percent of all children in state foster care systems. This tip sheet is designed as a quick reference tool for practitioners and advocates working with grandfamilies and kinship families who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native. It is meant to help them provide services in a way that is culturally sensitive and effective and also serves as a reference guide for staff orientation/training to work in these communities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance hosted the 2022 Regions IX and X Virtual Tribal TANF and NEW Technical Assistance Meeting on August 23-25, 2022. The Strengthening Partnerships Between Tribal TANF and Child Welfare session was targeted to Tribal TANF programs interested in coordinating programming with Child Welfare, specifically for tribes that did not have a Tribal TANF-Child Welfare (TTCW) grant. It was also applicable for participants that were considering applying for a TTCW grant in the future. Participants learned about resources available for increasing coordination, including the Resource Toolbox for Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination Projects, the Continuous Quality Improvement framework, and the Collaboration Assessment Tool.